Political Quotes

“My amendment provides a modest increase in grant funding to Appalachian States for the reclamation of abandoned mine lands in conjunction with economic and community development and reuse goals. Funding for these reclamation grants was first established last fiscal year at $90 million, but was provided exclusively to the three Appalachian States with the greatest amount of unfunded reclamation needs. Last year, I offered an amendment to expand this program to the next three Appalachian States with the greatest unmet needs. As you might imagine, Virginia is one of those three, with the other two being Alabama and Ohio. I am encouraged that the underlying bill heeds that call and expands these grants to do the next three Appalachian States, but the need is far too great in areas like southwest Virginia, and much more can be accomplished with a small increase in this program. My amendment increases the funding level for these grants from $90 million to $105 million, with that additional funding dedicated to setting a more balanced distribution of funds among Appalachian States. This additional funding is needed to really get in and do some work to help these Appalachian coal communities that have been economically devastated, while at the same time helping reduce the environmental impact of unreclaimed mine lands.…”